Curtis Lazar has a strong finish to the regular season for the Edmonton Oil Kings. / Marissa Baecker, Getty Images

by Kyle Woodlief, special to USA TODAY Sports

by Kyle Woodlief, special to USA TODAY Sports

The final month of the regular season felt like a placeholder with very little movement at the top end. It almost seems as though some players had been jogging in place, waiting for the real season to start: the playoffs, where (right or wrong) reputations can be made (or broken) in a few short games

But there have been a few notable exceptions that we'd like to praise. When the smell of postseason begins to fill the air, Curtis Lazar tends to heat up. In December, we were disappointed in his play as he wallowed around with about a dozen goals. Well, the calendar turned over to the important months, and all of a sudden you look up and he finished with 38 goals.

And let's not forget his torrid play last spring during the Edmonton Oil Kings' run to the Memorial Cup.

In Portland, it's not really fair to say that Nic Petan has gotten hot simply because he's always hot. He is like a small-scale version of global warming. Seriously, we just don't care anymore about Petan being 5-9 166. If we're a team that has stockpiled an extra first round pick, we're gambling one of them on this kid.

And finally, we'd like to mention Alex Wennberg, who has quietly climbed the rankings all season until he snuck into our top 20. Honestly, we never expected at the start of the year that Wennberg would be the second-highest-rated Swedish player on our board.

He's like a chameleon in that he's so versatile, a team can plug him in any place in the rotation, and he changes his spots to become exactly what the role requires. First-line scorer? No problem. Second-line two-way threat with finesse and some power? Check. Penalty-killing demon? Umm, yes.

That's a really valuable commodity to have on any club.

RISING

-Niklas Hansson: Skilled rearguard will never be mistaken for a shutdown defender, but his offensive instincts and skills are dynamic. Still has more upside left.

-Avery Peterson: Intelligent and physical two-way pivot has quietly developed into one of the top three prospects in the Minnesota high school ranks.

-MacKenzie Weegar: Completely overshadowed by all the big name stars in Halifax, but terrific puck mover and power play guy.

-Kyle Burroughs: Blossoming on the power play, and his two-way game is flourishing with increased responsibility and ice time.

-Eric Locke: Finally settled in with one team and consistent linemates, and is lighting up the Ontario Hockey League the way we expected last year.

FALLING

-Matt Murphy: As much as we like his skating, size and physical play, his decision-making is starting to make us wonder. He makes at least a couple of bonehead passes per game.

-Hudson Fasching: Simply not exhibiting a high enough skill level to overcome the heavy boots. We thought he had better hands.

News and notes from around the scouting community

-Watching Jimmy Lodge of the Saginaw Spirit play is like night-and-day from a year ago - or frankly, even from the first six weeks of this season. It took a year-and-a-half, but a move to the top line in Saginaw and a natural maturation process has transformed him back into the phenom he was as a minor midget in Toronto.

He has added just a touch of nastiness to his natural quickness, great vision, soft hands and nose for the net. He has terrific skating ability with speed to burn and instant acceleration, but off-ice workouts will be critical for Lodge to gain the upper body strength he will need to keep progressing. He's still a bit spindly at 6-1, 168, and can be pushed off the puck because of his lack of upper-body strength.

-Meanwhile, another Saginaw forward we've been tracking for three years has finally thrust himself into the forefront of NHL draft discussions. We've been huge fans of smallish (5-9, 182) center Eric Locke since the world under-18 championships two years ago, when he was one of Team Canada's best forwards as an under-ager.

At Red Line Report, we started him off in our preseason rankings in 2011 as a potential first-rounder, but he fizzled along with a bad team in Barrie, and even though we loved his hockey sense and kept him among our top 100 all season, he went undrafted in 2012. Being traded twice (first from Windsor to Barrie and then on to Saginaw) by his 18th birthday also raised a few red flags in the minds of some talent evaluators.

But this year, Locke has consistently been one of the most dangerous forwards in the OHL on a nightly basis. That aforementioned hockey sense and keen instincts around the offensive zone have led to a 43-goal, 97-point season, and it's a virtual lock that he'll be drafted this time around - and we're betting it will come in the top 100.

-For teams looking to take a late round gamble on toughness, here's a plug for gigantic Rouyn-Noranda winger Gabriel Slight - an uber sleeper for sure.

Call us crazy, but in two recent viewings this monster (6-3, 225 pounds) has caught our eye as an enforcer who can actually skate and handle the puck a bit. Respected coach Andre Tourigny has even been playing him with some of the Huskies' more skilled centers of late to ride shotgun and provide them a little more room. The Huskies have a roster with plenty of talented forwards, but precious little muscle up front.

The ironically named Slight, who is a thickly built bear, has been making his teammates braver and recently started showing he's capable of converting chances when he gets time on the scoring lines. We're quite surprised how agile he appears on the ice, and how good his stop/starts are for a big man.

Slight was a high draft pick (27th overall) two years ago, but has only 48 games under his belt in the Quebec league and is just beginning to make some noise. We wouldn't exactly describe him as a brawler; he's more a guy who just plays tough, looks to initiate lots of contact and will oblige anyone who wants to drop the gloves.

Just a wild hunch here, but with a couple years of proper and patient development, a club might have themselves a late blooming power winger.

-Speaking of enforcers, as always there are a few out west. Vancouver's Mason Geertsen is getting tons of ice time with a rebuilding Giants squad since his November trade. He has taken on a leadership role sticking up for teammates and is already wearing an "A" on his sweater. At 6-4, 203 pounds, he needs to be smarter about when to pick his fights as he sometimes puts his team in a bad position. But when he does drop the gloves, look out - this kid can throw 'em!

However, the real heavyweight is Victoria defenseman Keegan Kanzig. He might have zero puck skills and rather slow feet, but Kanzig is a mammoth presence on the blue line. At 6-5, 240, keeping opponents away from his net and off the puck by using size and strength is his game. Both his skating and shot could be timed with a sun dial, but he's always on the ice against the opposition's top line and on the penalty kill in a shutdown role. And make no mistake: We have yet to see him lose a fight in two seasons. He's a rough customer will fight the Western Hockey League's toughest over-agers and shows no fear and tremendous balance for a big man.

-One player whose stock continues to rise is Islanders (Eastern Junior Hockey League) winger Zach Sanford. Coming from New Hampshire public high school to the EJ, there was naturally an adjustment period, but you could still see his skill set.

Now, since the Christmas break, his confidence has really soared and his all-around game seems to improve daily. Big and rawboned (6-3, 190 pounds), Sanford has very soft hands for a guy his size. He's a good skater with a long and powerful stride, is great at making plays at top speed, and moves the puck very well. Will make a lot of nice short area passes and his touch creates a lot of opportunities for teammates.

If his postseason play continues in this vein, we see Sanford joining Ryan Fitzgerald to give the EJHL two premium selections this June. Fitzgerald tracks as a second-rounder, and we see Sanford sneaking into the third round.